Z had said here (...somewhere on this board, that is) that he had an idea for an anthology of sorts to serve two purposes. To both fill in gaps of the overall MSS story during the events of the trilogy, and to carry the story forwards, beyond the end of Survivors and perhaps beyond the cast of characters he had created.

How interested would this group be in something like that? Please, if you have an opinion on this, let it be heard. If any of you are in contact with the members who have excommunicated themselves after the Permuted take-over of the boards, please ask them, as well.

In my opinion, I think an anthology would be viable, and it would no doubt attract some of the best talent. Z had plenty of admirers among the zombie apocalypse authors.

This idea was, like I said, brought up by Z here, and it was also mentioned more than once in the reviews for the trilogy. What really made me decide to even ask was a book called New Blood, which was an anthology of short stories set in the universe of The Destroyer, a successful men's adventure series which has run since the 70's. The catch there was, the stories in that book were written by the fans.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know how it would be regulated as far as content or authors. But if it could be established properly, I too think it could be viable. My inclination would be to think that Z would be okay with that, but I hate when people try to speak for the deceased. But I think it could be done by the right people if they really understand the world that Z created. __________________Men get arrested, dogs get put down.

I set a story in his universe on the site and tried to make it like it was happening and I was still able to post to the site. It alternated between posts on this board (in the story) to a real time first person account.

I am no author, but think it is going well.__________________====
JBK
Dec 09, 2009 at 10:18 AM
========================
"Something my granddad used to tell us. You know Macumba? Voodoo. My granddad was a priest in Trinidad. He used to tell us, "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."

Most anthologies from Permuted are 90k to 120k, with stories averaging 5k per, so 18 to 24 stories. Depending on the story, the editor can accept much less or more, but the overall needs of the anthology would come first.

If it was me pitching this, I would pitch it as half from the fans and half from the other Permuted authors. I would also propose sections based on the three-word slogan: Infection / Destruction / Hope.

Infection would be on That Day and immediately after. Some good food for this section might be the barricading of Abraham, for instance.

Destruction should be during the course of the three novels, naturally. Lots of cross-country mayhem and then paranoia and dread as the strongholds get swamped with people and surrounded by the dead.

Hope would be set after the events of the trilogy, possibly in the near future, say a year later or maybe several, with the news of the cure spreading and civilization being re-established in the mid-west.

This is all just my brainstorming. If we're being optimistic, I could see a trilogy of anthologies, but that's a lot of stories. And who knows how many we would get if the call went out, but still. Fifty to seventy stories, good stories, is a lot to ask for in an open call. And I could make an easy bet that the fan-to-regular-author ratio would drop from one-one to one-three, maybe.

If ever I send the pitch to Permuted and the Recht estate, this is more or less what it would look like.__________________SAD WINGS of DESTINY... the Abyss gazes back. (On sale at Amazon & BN.com)

Spectre, thanks for taking the initiative on this one. I remember Z saying this (like you, I don't know where) and I'd like to se something like this come to fruition.

My only beef is most of the stories will only be from "established" writers and not the hardcore fans writers fanfic in their rooms. Obviously, we"d all like to see a big-name author taking on his twist of the fanfic.__________________< agrees to ^

Originally Posted by Raccoon_City_SurvivorMy only beef is most of the stories will only be from "established" writers and not the hardcore fans writers fanfic in their rooms. Obviously, we"d all like to see a big-name author taking on his twist of the fanfic.

...I did say that my initial vision was one of half and half, established authors and fan fic. The only way I'd see that change was if there was an anthology series, which I really, honestly don't see happening.

Of the authors I've emailed, I've gotten four yesses, and one tentative yes for later but a no for now, and one no. SO, if there are eighteen to twenty stories, I'm halfway to getting the names I'd need to move forward and pitch it. __________________SAD WINGS of DESTINY... the Abyss gazes back. (On sale at Amazon & BN.com)

Ooh, the other thing: who would be the fans? This is the part of the process that would take the longest, by far. An open call for first-time authors that are also fans of the Morningstar Strain might bring in a lot of stories, but then from there, the editor (whoever that turns out to be) would have to choose ten of them, then three or four alternates just in case, and then go through the editing process with them.__________________SAD WINGS of DESTINY... the Abyss gazes back. (On sale at Amazon & BN.com)

I haven't been in the fan fiction forum but to look at the vast and varied titles. I can make a guess, though, that if any of them are a serial that has carried on for some time, they are too long.

The best thing to do, I guess, would be to look at the three "sections," come up with an idea to fit one of them pretty squarely, and then write it out with a word limit in mind. If you're married to the characters you have and the predicament they're in, perhaps just a section of the longer story, but excised and reworked to stand alone.

Does that make sense?__________________SAD WINGS of DESTINY... the Abyss gazes back. (On sale at Amazon & BN.com)

I have a short story in mind that I started a while ago and that was supposed to be a short story for a contest on another site. It was set in the beginning of the release which is different than Z's beginning of a walker coming out of the woods in Mumbai. That, obviously, would not work...right?

Unless maybe I change the very beginning of the story.....change it from the release of the virus to a victim of it turning and it starting from there? Dang that probably will not work either....I would have to change so much.

Originally it was a bam bam bang bang type story starting with the release of the virus and ending with the spreading of it after a tense chase.__________________====
JBK
Dec 09, 2009 at 10:18 AM
========================
"Something my granddad used to tell us. You know Macumba? Voodoo. My granddad was a priest in Trinidad. He used to tell us, "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."

Originally Posted by Raccoon_City_SurvivorMy only beef is most of the stories will only be from "established" writers and not the hardcore fans writers fanfic in their rooms. Obviously, we"d all like to see a big-name author taking on his twist of the fanfic.

...I did say that my initial vision was one of half and half, established authors and fan fic. The only way I'd see that change was if there was an anthology series, which I really, honestly don't see happening.

Of the authors I've emailed, I've gotten four yesses, and one tentative yes for later but a no for now, and one no. SO, if there are eighteen to twenty stories, I'm halfway to getting the names I'd need to move forward and pitch it.

All right, I guess I skimmed over that part. Well, it looks like you have all your corners covered so I won't question you again

I am happy to see there are some authors who want to get into this sort of thing.__________________< agrees to ^

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